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Tuesday, July 22, 2008

"Lives in a house, a very big house in the country"

It is no lie that I like to dress up and fully embrace the somewhat costume drama element of fashion. I adore dressing as though I have stepped out of time machine or off a period film set. Recently when I was flicking through Vogue's catwalk report, rather unimpressed mind you - military, statement coats and get this, black , how very radical, something did manage to jump out at me in a flashbulb 'this is how I'm going to dress for the bulk of the winter' moment - posh, British manor country attire. Suddenly, I felt inspired and the mere thought of silk scarfs and tweeds was making my heart do tiny somersaults, so much so, that the next day I was wearing exactly that.

The best way to describe this style is to think of a lovely, well dressed elderly lady, perhaps at the races. Imagine too, afternoon tea in wonderful old English estates and out - doorsy exploits in vast, green acres. For clothes, I'm thinking tweeds, thick wool jackets, knee length skirts, cardigans, the occasional frivolity of a frilled blouse, grand, old - world jewellery - pearls, brooches, gold - , blazers, even better with leather elbow patches, checks and of course, the customary silk headscarf.

If you really want to make a statement, scour dusty attics for hunting caps like at Carolina Herrara. Feathers make the perfect finish to countryside ensembles.

An unlikely, but none the less apt style icon for this look, is Queen Elizabeth II. Her Balmoral headscarves are incredibly chic and to be honest, I'm hankering for a return to this sort of modest, ladylike dressing. I would not be surprised if headscarves turn out to be the new 'bow in the hair' with cool Facehunter type people.There is, of course, a certain regal element to this style as not only do I recommend escaping to enormous country estates and counting Queen Elizabeth as a style icon, but early Princess Diana was the perfect lady of the manor too. Ruffles, wool cardigans, pearls, scarves, thick coats, fussy blouses and horsey attire were all staples for the young Diana as well as being a plenty on this seasons' runways.

26 comments:

ooo thank you for this post! i love the british eccentric style and am eager to bust out the plaids & tweeds again this fall! you did another great job of assembling style icons and runway reports, D&G is fab!

How lovely -- this would be a very original trend to bring back. And god knows we haven't actually seen an original trend in quite some time.I quite like that top pic, by the way. Is that from the Vogue Runway Report?Romanyxx